Newswise — The excitement of March Madness may inspire even couch potatoes to run to the basketball courts, but before they do, they should take steps to reduce their injury risk, said Dr. Pietro Tonino, chief, sports medicine division, Loyola University Health System, Maywood, Ill.
More than 1.5 million injuries related to basketball were treated in 2004 at hospitals, doctors' offices, ambulatory surgery centers, clinics and hospital emergency rooms, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The cost of these injuries exceeded $24 billion.
"Knee injuries can be especially painful and require months of rehabilitation, so it's best to prevent them in the first place," said Tonino, assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery, department of orthopaedic surgery and rehabilitation, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Ill. CPSC data shows that more than 180,000 knee injuries related to basketball were treated in 2004 at a cost of $2 billion.
"Teens, weekend warriors and couch potatoes especially need proper training and conditioning to avoid basketball injuries," said Tonino. "Although even experienced players can sustain a basketball injury, newcomers to the game particularly are at risk.
"Many injuries can be prevented by being physically fit and knowing and playing by the rules of the game," he said.
ACL tear: "Kneedless" basketball injury
One of the most common sports knee injuries in sports is a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a rope-like bundle of fibrous tissue in the center of the knee that connects the front of the shinbone (lower leg) with the back of the thighbone (upper leg).
"The ACL helps a person bend their knee, squat and jump," said Tonino, noting that 70 percent of ACL injuries are non-contact; 30 percent result from collision with a person or an object. "The ACL can be sprained or ruptured in sports where the athlete jumps, lands, twists, pivots or suddenly stops. Such sports include basketball, running, soccer, football, volleyball and skiing."
Tonino said that females are up to eight times more likely than males to sustain a non-contact ACL injury. "Many ACL injuries occur in females ages 15 to 25 years," he said. "Research is underway to determine the reasons."
One reason is that in contrast to males, females tend to land from a jump with their knees locked, which puts added pressure on the knee. "The result can be a sprain or tear of the ACL," said Tonino.
"Slightly bending the knees and hips when landing will reduce injury risk," he said. "When playing basketball, position the buttocks as if you were about to sit down in a chair, rather than standing upright. Land on your forefoot, not your heel."
Tonino said that female athletes should strengthen their hamstrings, the muscles located in the back of the thigh. "Preventing ACL tears is worth the time required for training and exercise," said Tonino. "An ACL injury can be surgically repaired, but recovery and rehabilitation takes the athlete out of the game for months."
Visit the Loyola University Health System Web site http://www.luhs.org for more information. To make an appointment with Tonino, call 708-327-1000.
Loyola University Health System, a wholly owned subsidiary of Loyola University Chicago (LUC), includes the private teaching hospital at Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), 15 specialty and primary care centers in the western and southwestern suburbs, the Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center at Oakbrook and the Loyola Oakbrook Terrace Imaging Center; and serves as co-owner-operator of RML Specialty Hospital, a long-term-care facility for ventilator-dependent patients in suburban Hinsdale, Ill. Loyola is nationally recognized for its specialty care and groundbreaking research in cancer, neurological disorders, neonatology and the treatment of heart disease. The 73-acre medical center campus in Maywood, Ill., includes the 523-bed Loyola University Hospital with a Level I trauma center, the region's largest burn unit, one of the Midwest's most comprehensive organ transplant programs, the Russo Surgical Pavilion and the Ronald McDonald® Children's Hospital of LUMC. Also on campus are Loyola's Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center and LUC Stritch School of Medicine. The medical school includes the Cardiovascular Institute, Oncology Institute, Burn & Shock Trauma Institute, Neuroscience and Aging Institute and the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy.
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